A Temporary Cease Fire
by Justina Bubbles
Summary: COMPLETE. As Jack and Maddie go on a hunt one night for public enemy 1, InvisoBill, they discover something that could change the way they look at ghosts forever.
1. Chapter 1

Hi, all! I'm new here, and . . . umm . . . yeah. This is my first fic here, so don't go too hard on me, okay? And even if you do, well, I'll still be here, so tough luck for you. Nyah.

Anyways, I hope that you enjoy this at least somewhat. It's only one chapter, but if y'all like me enough and I like you enough I'll start working on editing my multi-chapter fic. Woot!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. Duh. **

A Temporary Cease Fire 

Jack and Maddie Fenton had been following the ghost kid known as "Inviso-Bill" for hours, now. They were exhausted to the point of falling down on the spot, but they knew that they had to keep going. Inviso-Bill was, after all, public enemy number one, and it was their duty to protect Amity Park from all ghosts.

They drove the RV through the streets, not talking to each other and concentrating on the tracker on the dashboard. The signal had been faint for the past 20 minutes, but at least there was still a signal, and therefore they couldn't stop, not while they still had the chance to catch him. They turned toward the docks, when all of the sudden the signal became stronger and the tracker indicated that their target had stopped moving.

"We've got him this time!" Jack said, reenergized by the thought of catching the ghost boy this time, and he sped up toward the warehouses.

"Jack, dear, slow down! I'm just as excited as you are, but you're driving dangerously!" Maddie exclaimed, holding on to whatever she could while Jack was taking sharp turns.

"We don't have the time! We can't let him get away!" Jack said, still excited about this mission.

They screeched to a halt in front of the warehouse where the signal came especially strong from, and Jack immediately jumped out of the vehicle, ready for anything, about to break down the door.

Maddie, on the other hand, had learned something from the past few hours of hunting down Inviso-Bill, and quickly got in Jack's way.

"Hold on a second, honey, I've got an idea. We've been going into a full-frontal attack all this time to try and catch him, and every time it's failed. Maybe we should try a sneak attack."

"Aaw, but I like charging the door down!" Jack replied, pouting a bit.

"I know, but let's just try it this one time, okay? If it doesn't work you can continue to break down doors." Maddie said as soothingly as she could. The truth was, she was just as ready to break down the door and kick some ghost butt as much as her husband was, but her voice of reason was telling her contrary. "Here's what we'll do," she said and quickly told her plan to Jack.

Once she was sure that Jack got at least the gist of the idea, they sneaked around to the side door of the warehouse, quietly opened it, and crept through the stacks of boxes until they were in view of the ghost kid.

The scene that met them was a great surprise to them. Inviso-Bill was there, but so was another ghost. He was tall, had hair that looked like green flames, and a high tech-looking suit on. And, contrary to what they expected, the two were _fighting_.

"What are they _doing_?" Maddie wondered aloud.

"Well, Maddie, it seems that the two are fighting, and it looks like they're both pretty evenly matched." Jack whispered in reply.

"It was a rhetorical question, dear." Maddie muttered under her breath. "Now, shh, we don't want them to hear us."

Jack and Maddie had no doubts in their minds that all ghosts were primitive, brutish, and violent by nature, but they had always thought that the feelings of hostility were against humans, and that all ghosts were allied against the humans. This new revelation of ghosts fighting against ghosts set forth a train of thoughts in each of the two scientists minds that baffled them.

They watched the scene with intrigue, amazement, and almost with feelings of horror. Though they were the leading experts in paranormal activity, most of their works were based on hypothesis they had made. The fact of the matter was, they had rarely – almost never – come in contact with ghosts. It wasn't even until at least a month after their ghost portal had started working that they had seen their first ghost, and it wasn't until the ghost invasion and Inviso-Bill's attacks on the city that they had a chance to interact with one, even if it was just fighting.

So this chance to observe ghosts without distraction and to watch how they used the full extent of their powers was almost completely new to them. And what they saw amazed them. Maddie took mental notes the entire time she was watching the fight between the two ghosts.

_Ectoplasm, as we suspected is their main weapon, though they also use it to set up shields for defensive purposes. They are extremely agile, respond quickly, and are extremely strong, _she thought as she witnessed Inviso-Bill crashing into a stack of crates and completely demolishing them in the process. _Also very resilient, _she noted as the kid immediately got up, seemingly unscathed from the impact.

Jack, in the meantime, was also taking notes, but more on what kinds of fighting moves each of the ghosts were doing. He was also glancing from time to time at Maddie to watch for her signal for when they could jump in and kick some bad guy butt.

Finally, when both ghosts seemed to be tired out, they stopped for a moment to catch some breath.

_Wait, catch some breath?_ Maddy thought, confused. _But ghosts are dead. They're not supposed to be able to breathe. _ She looked closer and saw that the two ghosts were indeed, quite tired, but only one of them, Inviso-Bill, was actually breathing. The other looked simply like it needed to regain some energy. _That's odd . . . what kind of a ghost had functions similar to that of a living being?_

The tall one with flamed hair spoke, sending chills down the two ghost hunter's spines with its deep, otherworldly voice.

"Just give up, whelp. You and I both know that you being a pelt on my floor is a better life than what you've got here."

"Shut up, Skulker, that's not true!" Inviso-Bill snapped back, angry. Surprisingly, his voice didn't send as many chills down the couple's spine in the same way as the other ghost's – Skulker's – did.

"Oh yeah? You'd rather live a life of being constantly hunted down for something that you were framed for than being able to end it all?" Skulker chuckled. "Why bother?"

_Wait one sec, _both Jack and Maddie thought at the same time, _did that ghost just say that Inviso-Bill was framed? For what? Is it possible that . . . he's innocent?_

"Why bother? Because Amity Park is my home, it's my responsibility to protect it from ghosts like you, and most of all, because it's just the right thing to do!" Inviso-Bill growled, his breathing slowing down and him gaining energy.

Unfortunately, Skulker had also had time to gain a little bit of energy, and while Inviso-Bill was a little off guard from the statement he had just made, Skulker took the opportunity and lunged at Inviso-Bill.

While the two ghosts fought it out, Jack and Maddie sat there, dumbfounded. Was what was said in the conversation true? Inviso-Bill was framed? Was trying to do good? Was trying to protect Amity Park?

The team shook themselves out of it and turned their attention back to the fight. Inviso-Bill seemed to be losing his ground . . . or, since he's a ghost, his air, when all of the sudden Skulker lunged at him again. Inviso-Bill, in one quick movement, dodged it, turned around, and uncapped a container which then sucked Skulker into a blue vortex, leading to the center of the container. He sighed, and muttered, "One less ghost terrorizing the city, thanks to a fight without any interruptions from-"

"Hey, that's the first Fenton Thermos! I was wondering what had happened to it!" Jack exclaimed loudly, standing up from behind the boxes.

Inviso-Bill jumped and a look of panic swept across his face as he saw the large man appear suddenly. Maddie jumped out from behind the crates in front of Jack, Bazooka ready, just in case Inviso-Bill did something dangerous. Immediately the ghost flew up out of the way of the Bazooka, but Maddie simply followed his movements.

"Come down here, ghost! We wanna talk to you!" Maddie shouted up to the youth.

"Wait . . . what? You want to _talk_ to me?" Inviso-Bill stopped in midair.

"We want to talk to him? No butt-kicking?" Jack asked, disappointed.

"Yes, we want to talk to you. Now come down here." Maddie replied.

"How do I know that this isn't just a trick?" The kid said, eyes on the bazooka.

Maddie took her finger off the trigger of the weapon, and let it hang down at her side. The ghost saw this, and slowly floated down and settled down on the ground a safe distance away from the ghost hunters.

"What do you want?" He said, still keeping a cautious eye on their weapons.

Maddie, also still on her guard, calmly said, "We overheard your conversation with that other ghost – Skulker, is it?" The ghost boy nodded. "Okay, Skulker. Was everything you two said true?"

"What do you mean?" the young boy asked, forgetting what they had said. He never bothered thinking too much about the exchanges he and his enemies said during battle. It was always just tough talk, trying to delay the battle for a minute to regain a little bit of energy. He learned that there was no meaning to the words that his enemies said, because they were also to bring him down, take him off his guard. It was best to just ignore them.

"He said you were framed for something, and you said that you were just trying to protect the town from ghosts like him." Jack chipped in.

Inviso-Bill looked confused for another minute, then it dawned on him what the two were saying. "Oh, right, yeah. I was framed by another ghost named Walker for trying to hurt the mayor of the town. I'm really not evil. I don't want to hurt anyone at all; I want to protect them. In fact, there are a lot of ghosts that aren't bad, it's just that they want to be left alone."

Jack and Maddie stood there with their jaws open, shocked at how simple the ghost kid made the situation sound. Inviso-Bill stood there, waiting for them to say something. When they didn't, he continued on. "Now that you know my side of the story, could you, like, stop hunting me? It's really difficult to have to hunt down ghosts and defend myself from you two at the same time."

Maddie shook herself out of her daze and eyed the child. He seemed to be telling the truth, almost determined in making them believe him. She approached him Bazooka still at her side. Inviso-Bill took a defensive step back, but Maddie simply extended her hand. He eyed it carefully, and took it. They shook hands, and a truce was set up between them.

Jack jumped in, though, and said warningly, "We're still gonna watch you. If you make one wrong move, then-"

"I know, you'll have to hunt me down and destroy me." the teen interrupted, already knowing the conditions of their agreement.

He stepped back, getting ready to fly out of there, when Maddie put in one last word. "Expect to see us again very soon, okay? Like Jack said, we will be keeping tabs on you."

Inviso-Bill laughed, seemingly amused by what Maddie just stated. "Oh, I count on seeing you _very_ soon." At this, he flew up into the air and phased up through the ceiling into the dusky sky.

Jack and Maddie stood there for a moment, wordlessly staring at where the ghost had left. The turned around to leave when they heard a voice again.

"Hey! One more thing!" Inviso-Bill shouted down to the two, his head poking in through the ceiling. Jack and Maddie turned around and looked up at him, wondering what more could be said between the two parties at this point. "It's not Inviso-Bill. Whoever came up with that name for me is an idiot. Call me Da- I mean, umm . . . Phantom. D. Phantom." Immediately after that, he drew back again and disappeared.

Jack and Maddie looked questioningly at each other, shrugged, and continued on to the R.V.

They got in, buckled up, and started the engine when Jack suddenly stopped and remembered something. "Hey! That Phantom kid still has my thermos!"

Maddie shook her head and, not replying, watched a black and white figure fly off back toward the city.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow . . . I didn't think that anyone would really like this enough to give me such great reviews. In fact, I originally had only planned for it to be that one chapter, but so many of you asked for me to continue it that, well, I couldn't say no . This big shout out goes to: teengirl27, Catnip070, wishing for rain, Firehedgehog, Cheerin4danny, Kraven the Hunter, hikarisailorcat, cakreut12, Hearts of Eternity, bluish black dolphin, and Ghoster 17 (I apologize if I got any of your guy's names wrong or if I missed anyone). And a bag of Chips Ahoy goes to Princess Nightfire, for giving me the aardvark! **

**Also, here's some of the information that I forgot to put in the beginning:**

**Title: A Temporary Cease Fire**

**By: Me, Justina Bubbles**

**Summary: Jack and Maddie Fenton have been called by the city to be the official ghost hunters. Their main target is public enemy number one, "Inviso-Bill" While trying to hunt him down one night, they run into another ghost and discover something that could change the way that they look at ghosts forever. **

**Rating: K**

**Genre: General**

**Disclaimer: Geeze, this is only the second time I've written one of these, and it's already annoying. I don't own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman (that lucky man!) does. **

**A Temporary Cease Fire**

**Chapter Two**

Jack and Maddie were stumped. It was two and a half weeks since their encounter with "D. Phantom", and they hadn't seen a hair of him since.

"Mom, Dad? Umm . . . I can't believe that I'm about to ask this, but are you two okay?" Jazz asked at the breakfast table one morning while the parents were thinking about their situation. "I mean, normally you're weird and all anyway, but your silence is kind of creeping me out."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, we're fine." Jack affirmed, his mind somewhere else. "You haven't happened to see a ghost boy with white hair, green eyes, and about . . . how tall would you say he is, Maddie?"

"About Danny's height" she answered.

Their son, Danny, who seemed to have not been paying any attention, choked on his cereal and went into a coughing fit.

"Are you okay, dear?" His mother asked.

"Have _you_ seen the ghost boy?" Jack inquired.

"Oh, heh-heh, yeah, I'm okay, and no, I haven't seen him at all . . . what was his name again? Inviso-Bob or something like that?" Danny replied, laughing nervously and shifting his eyes around the room.

"Actually, it's D. Phantom, and we're trying to keep tabs on him, but we haven't seen him for almost three weeks!" Jack said angrily, pounding the table in frustration. As he pounded the table, the ghost hunters' most recent invention, a more advanced tracker, jumped up and fell off the table, breaking some of the parts into several pieces. "I've really got to stop doing that . . ." Jack admitted, and sat down, almost feeling defeated.

"That was our last circuit board that size," Maddie observed, "We've got to go to Technology Town and get some more. Let's go as soon-"

"As we're ready, and I'm ready!" Jack exclaimed, and hopped up out of his chair and sprinted to the RV.

"I was going to say as soon as the kids left for school!" Maddie called after her husband, but it was too late, and Jack was already backing out of the driveway. She sighed. "You kids can be sure to lock up the house before you leave, right?"

Her two children nodded. "We're responsible young adults, Mom, you shouldn't have to worry." Jazz groaned. "Have fun or whatever."

As with every time the two went to Technology Town, Jack and Maddie received stares from the complete strangers also shopping in the store. Recently, however, it was out of respect because of their local status as protectors of the town, and not from their silly outfits that protected them from ghost energy.

In fact, a little kid with goggles on that resembled Maddie's ran up to them and held up a squirt gun and pen. "Could you sign my ghost bazooka?" she pleaded in her cute, high-pitched voice.

"But it's just a water-" Jack started, but Maddie elbowed him in the stomach to shut him up.

"We'd love to." Maddie cooed, and bent down to the little girl's level and signed the squirt gun. She handed it to Jack, who, through many protests, finally signed it too.

Just as he handed back the toy and he and Maddie were back on their way to the parts section, they felt some sort of . . . electric current go through the air. Everyone in the store jumped at the same time, and those with long hair looked like they had afros, because of the static electricity in the air. Customers and employees alike looked around at each other, as if to look for some sort of explanation for the strange phenomenon. When no one could find a culprit, the people went back to their shopping, helping with the register or customers, or, in the case of some nerds, loitering.

Then Jack and Maddie heard a scream near the front of the store. They only had to look at each other to know what the other was thinking – _ghost_. They sprinted to the source, and found a befuddled cashier, customers everywhere, and cash floating through the air. The teenaged girl register worker absentmindedly picked up her phone and put her voice on the PA. "Assistance needed at register six . . . code . . . umm . . . I don't know what the code is for an exploding register. Thank you." She stood there for a couple more seconds, then screamed.

"Everyone, just calm down, we're professionals here!" Jack tried to shout above the excited crowd. "Excuse me . . . excuse me!" He tried to get the customer's attention.

"HEY, PEOPLE!" Maddie shouted. Immediately the mass of people stopped everything and looked at the woman. "Thank you. We're professionals here, and we'll figure out what's behind-"

"Hey, you're that ghost hunting lady on T.V.!" A random person shouted out. "You totally rock!" The crowd cheered for their local heroes, and Maddie blushed and smiled.

"Oh, why thank you, thank you. But listen, we have a situation on our ha-"

She never got to finish her statement, because another scream was heard throughout the store. Immediately the ghost-hunting couple ran off to investigate.

This time they found themselves at the back of the store, with an extremely interesting scene before them. There was another teenage girl employee there, who was helping up a fellow employee from the ground. He looked like he was conscious, maybe a little shocked, but mentally okay. Physically, though, he looked horrible. His hair was standing on end, and it and his skin looked charred.

"What happened?" Jack eagerly asked, now positive that all the strange activity was due to ghosts.

The girl explained for her friend. "We were just going to go to the store room to . . . umm . . . restock on CD players, and when John here went to open the door, he was, like, shocked or something! John, honey, are you okay? I'm sooo scared!"

Just as Maddie was about to further question the event, she was interrupted again by a sound near the center of the store. There was further screaming, but . . . something else . . .

The paranormal experts started off to the source of the noise, but stopped in their tracks when they were met by the strangest sight they had ever seen – even more so than normal. All of the electronics were flying off the shelf, _literally_. They were actually floating to the air, and seemed to be headed to a central point. The screaming subsided, and they were soon able to recognize the other sound . . . laughter? _Evil_ laughter? They started off again and soon found what they were looking for.

A giant, green, spider-looking ghost with a human-like head stood in the midst of electronics of all kinds floating from all points in the store.

"I, Technus, master of technology, have freed myself from the prison you humans call 'level zero', and have found that the Internet is indeed, overrated! The real world is much more pleasing than either the information highway or the ghost zone, and I will proceed to take over this city, and then, the world! Ha ha ha ha!"

"He's not very concise, is he?" Jack noted.

"No, he's not, but that doesn't matter right now. He's a ghost and we need to stop him. Let's go!" Maddie jumped up and ran to the ghost, ready to take him down. She jumped up onto a shelf, then jumped off of it into the ghost. He took a few steps back from the impact, and Maddie flew through the air in the opposite direction, landing on her feet.

The technological being turned around and saw Maddie and Jack, who only a moment before joined his wife, and frowned.

"Someone dares oppose me, Technus, master of technology? A couple of humans, at that? No problem, in this world, you humans are easy to crush." Technus then ran toward the couple at an alarming speed. So fast, even, that Jack and Maddie barely leaped out of the way in time. They were quick to think, though, and immediately got up off their feet and counter attacked their new enemy.

For a while, it seemed that Jack and Maddie had the upper hand. Maddie was fighting extremely well with whatever resources she had, and Jack, well . . . he was doing okay, too, but seemed more concerned with how well his equipment worked. Soon, though, it was apparent that the ghost they were fighting against was gaining power. Maddie wondered how he was doing this, and realized that not only was Technus getting more powerful, but bigger, too. She saw the floating stream of gadgets in the air and realized that, even though he was busy with fighting her and her husband, he was still taking from the store and building on to his high-tech armor.

It only took this moment of being off guard for the electronically obsessed supernatural being to take the upper hand in this fight completely, and knock Jack and Maddie in an inescapable corner. He slowly crept up on the two, and let out another fit of evil laughter.

"I, Technus, master of all things electronic-"

"Still can't cut down on his long-winded speeches!" A black and white blur shouted, coming through the roof and knocking Technus down.

Maddie smiled to herself and quickly got up to get back to fighting this static foe.

"Hey, it's that ghost kid!" Jack said as he got up too.

"Yes, it is, but there's no time to chat, dear, we've got to concern ourselves with this Technus guy first." Maddie pulled out her ectoplasmic saber, and ran to aid D. Phantom in defeating Technus. Jack pulled out the Fenton Fisher, but moaned when he found that it was still tangled.

"I've really got to put 'untangle the fisher' higher on my priority list." He dropped it anyway and planned on fighting with his own hands, since he had run out of everything else.

By the time the couple reached the other end of the store, where the two ghosts were battling, D. Phantom had already stopped the flow of mechanics to Technus' battle suit, and had weakened him down considerably. Maddie was impressed at the boy's talent, and went in to deliver some blows of her own. Between the three ghost fighters, they were able to chip down at the main body of Technus' suit enough so that everything else collapsed, leaving nothing but a thin, wimpy-looking ghost floating there in front of them.

"I, Technus, shall not be defeated so easily! I will-"

"Shut up for two seconds!" D. Phantom interrupted again, sucking the momentarily distracted computer ghost into the Fenton Thermos, and capped it. He was about to fly off through the ceiling without another word, when Jack verbally stopped him.

"Hey, Phantom . . . ghost . . . kid . . ." He started, trailing off when he wasn't sure how to address the ghost that had just helped them out.

D. Phantom turned around and looked at them a little nervously. "Yeah? Am I in trouble?"

Maddie thought that was a weird question to ask but shrugged it off and picked up where her husband left off. "Thank you for helping us out there."

"Oh, trust me, you needed ear plugs more than you needed my help." The ghost boy chuckled. "I've kicked this guy's butt more than once, and he still has an ego the size of Wisconsin."

"You really aren't that bad, are you?" Maddie wondered out loud.

"Well, I would hope not." The ghostly teen replied, and flew off through the roof before either of the couple could fit in another word.

Maddie turned around, ready to leave, when Jack stopped her. "Maddie, what about the circuit board?"

She looked around at the destroyed store, and shook her head. "I'm pretty sure that this place will be closed for a while. Come on, honey, let's go to Wall 2 Wall Mart instead."

Jack looked around at the mess that he had, in a way, helped to make, and agreed. "Let's just hope that this place is insured." And with that last word, the couple left without trying to draw any more attention to themselves.

**Yay! Another chapter up! Now go on . . . you know what I want you to do . . . ; )**


	3. Chapter 3

**I wrote part of this while I wasn't feeling very healthy, so if it seems kinda weird, you now know why. **

**Disclaimer: Me? Own Danny Phantom? As if. **

A Temporary Cease Fire Chapter Three 

Something was nagging at the back of Maddie's mind. It was like someone was screaming something at her, but for some reason she couldn't understand what they were saying. She looked over at her husband, who was driving them home from Wall 2 Wall Mart. Nothing seemed to be bugging him, so she looked out the window instead.

It wasn't until they passed a bus stop that her mind clicked. A close examination of one of the posters on the side of the bench covering found Maddie staring right back at the eyes of labeled #1 Public Enemy, "Inviso-Bill". So. That was it. It was her _conscience_ that was nagging at her.

"Jack? Can I ask you a question?"

"Why, of course, Maddie! Is it about ghosts?"

"Well, yes, but about a specific ghost. Do you think that D. Phantom really IS fighting to protect the town? I mean, he did say that he was, but of course he could have been lying, but he has helped us out and it's not like he's purposely-"

"Maddie, you're making my head hurt."

"Sorry. I was just thinking . . . is it possible to trust him? Could he really be an ally?"

"Well, it's like I always say."

Maddie paused, waiting for Jack to finish his statement. "Yes, Jack, what do you always say?"

"Uhh . . . I can't remember. He is still a ghost. But, if he fights against the same ghosts we do, we can put our trust in him."

Maddie took this into consideration, surprised at the sudden wisdom her husband showed. "I guess you're right. That was very insightful, dear. How did you come to that conclusion?"

Jack briefly took his eyes off the road to give a confused look at his wife. "What? What were you saying about insight? I was just reading that ad for mayor candidate Brown."

Maddie looked at the back of the bus they were following on the road, and sure enough, there was a picture of a man with an extremely white, suave smile, and the phrase, "Vote Brown for mayor to help with the ghost infestation: if he fights against the same ghosts we do, we can put our trust in him."

'That's a weird slogan, but it does get me thinking . . .' Maddie thought to herself. She turned to her husband and told him her latest plan for D. Phantom.

* * *

About a week after the Technus incident, the Fenton family was again found eating breakfast, and, as usual, Jazz was reading a book, Jack and Maddie were working on an invention, and Danny was eating cereal.

"Soo . . . how's your hunt for D. Phantom going, you guys?" The youngest in the family asked his parents, almost in a nervous tone.

"Hmm? Oh, it's going fine." Jack replied, focusing more on the last touches on his updated version of the portable ghost portal ray than on the question. For some reason, the last one had mysteriously disappeared. Like most of his inventions, now that he thought about it.

"Actually, Danny, we've thought and talked about it, and we decided that he's not as evil as we thought he was, and we've come to the decision that we're even going to go tell the city to take him out of the position of number one public enemy. Today, even, if we can _get our act together_." Maddie aimed this last statement at her husband, who was still deep in his work. "Right, _dear_?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, right. We decided instead that that Technus ghost is more worth hunting down." Jack looked up from the machine for a couple seconds, making himself look like he was really paying attention.

Danny snorted and smiled at what his dad said.

"Something funny, Danny?" Maddie inquired, curious at her son's reaction.

The teenage boy immediately put a serious look on his face and shook his head quickly. "Uhh . . . no, of course not, mom. Yeah, ghosts, they're pretty bad, heh-heh. Sooo . . . you're also going to tell them what his real name is, right?" He quickly changed the subject.

"Of course. There's no use calling him Inviso-Bill when that's not his real name, right?" She smiled.

Jazz, who didn't seem to be listening to the conversation, actually looked up from her book and surprisingly made a non-negative comment to add to the conversation. "Well, good thing. Inviso-Bill is really a silly name." The psychology-obsessed teen then turned her book around to show the rest of her family what was written in it. "It says here in these readings that people with names that they hate will eventually in life-" Her rantings were then cut off by a noise downstairs, in the lab. It wasn't an especially loud noise, more like something heavy falling off a table, but it was loud and unnatural enough to catch the attention of the family.

"GHOSTS!" Jack yelled excitedly, attention finally taken off of the mechanical box he was working on. He and Maddie shot off to the stairs, ready to, well, kick some ghost butt.

When they reached the lower level, they were surprised to find only one ghost rummaging around all of the lab equipment and hovering above the ghost portal controller.

She didn't look especially tough, either. She wore a red jacket, a scarf, and a short skirt and boots, and looked more worried about her own problems than about the ghost hunters that had just joined her.

"Get away from our stuff, you ghost creep!" Jack yelled, and shot the ghost with the Bazooka. He, being the worse shooter of the paranormal professional couple, missed, of course.

"Jack, dear, why don't you put down the Bazooka? The portal is, after all _right there._" His wife requested, and he silently consented, disappointed that he couldn't use the heavy artillery.

"My name is Kitty, not 'ghost creep', got that?" the dead adolescent said to the large man.

"Well, in that case, what do you want, 'Kitty'?" Maddie asked. "Whatever it is, you're not going to get it!"

"So why'd you bother asking what I want if I'm not going to get it?"

"She has a point, Maddie." Jack chipped in

"Hon, you're ruining the dramatic climax."

"Oh, sorry."

Kitty interrupted this side conversation and said simply, in a whiny kind of way, "Listen, could you just tell me how to open that ghost portal so that my boyfriend can get out?"

"As if!" Maddie got in a more stable fighting position and got our her ectoplasmic sword and jumped at the persistent teen. Kitty dodged the attack, but just barely. At that moment, an invisible breeze rushed between the three, and the ghost portal spontaneously opened. The swirling ectoplasma was disturbed, as if someone had entered.

"Johnny?" Kitty screamed, anxiously waiting for her boyfriend to appear. Her hopes were dashed quickly as the portal closed itself and no one appeared.

Though Jack and Maddie were greatly disturbed by this occurrence, there was a more pressing matter on hand that they had to take care of. Maddie used her opponent's temporary distraction to take advantage of the situation, and made another attack at their current foe.

The female enemy noticed this at the last second, and dodged it again, cutting it even closer than before. "Hey, you almost made me break a nail!" The girl complained, having slammed into a wall in her haste. She retaliated and shot an ectoplasmic beam from her hand at the couple.

The two humans both dodged this, and as soon as Jack regained his composure, he ran towards the ghost, ready to tackle her down by hand. Kitty simply rolled her eyes and went intangible, causing the muscular father to pass right through her and land with a loud THUNK on her opposite side.

The fight continued for several more minutes, both sides energetic and willing to fight for their separate causes – Jack and Maddie to reclaim their lab and Kitty to reunite herself with her lover.

"Listen, all you have to do is push the button, right? I promise that it'll only be Johnny and me, okay?"

Man, this girl was whiny.

All of the sudden, the Ghost Portal opened again, and two figures emerged. Even if it was only one of the two, both Jack and Maddie would have been shocked, but seeing both of the beings together rendered them speechless.

It was D. Phantom and Johnny 13.

"_You're a ghost?_" Jack cried incredulously, referring to Johnny. "And we let our daughter DATE you?"

"You got that right, old man." Johnny confirmed, and then turned to his girlfriend. "You ready to leave this place, Kitty?"

"Oh, Johnny!" the happy teen exclaimed, hopping onto her companion's motorcycle. As soon as she landed on the seat, the black-clad male drove his bike up to the nearest wall, ready to phase through. D. Phantom called after him, momentarily stopping the motion.

"Remember our deal, Johnny." The black and white figure warned sternly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I know the consequences if I break it, blah blah blah. Now we're outta here! So long, punk!" As he drove off, a high-pitched screech could be heard, trailing off into the distance from the same bike.

"You made ANOTHER deal with him?"

As soon as Jack and Maddie were finished watching their enemies phase out of their home as if they owned the place and they got over their shock, they turned to the last ghost left in the room with them, fuming.

"You . . . you let them get away!" Jack yelled, furious.

"What's more, you made a deal with one of them and let him out of the ghost zone!" Maddie added.

"Listen, I can explain," the teen interjected, all of the sudden seeming quite small and powerless compared to the two adult's rage.

"Oh, I think it's quite clear to us what's going on." Jack interrupted.

"You're a spy, aren't you? Working as a double agent, I bet!" Maddie continued. "You actually made us TRUST you, and all of the sudden you pull this on us!"

"But you don't know-"

"And to think that we were going to consider you an ally!"

"We were going to tell the entire city to stop hunting you!"

"There's something I need to tell-" D. Phantom was interrupted again, but this time it was neither by Jack nor Maddie. A white-clothed arm and hand reached out of the ghost portal, which was still open, and grabbed the ghostly adolescent by the arm and dragged him into the ghost zone.

Normally either of the couple would have responded to this situation by figuring that, as long as D. Phantom was in the ghost zone and stayed there, they were just fine with that mysterious limb pulling him in. Their parental side had taken over them, though, and even though it wasn't like they were yelling at one of their kids, they were still annoyed that a teenager would just leave like that in the middle of one of their rantings.

So, instead of rationally responding to this situation, they jumped into the Specter Speeder, ready to follow the teen so they could finish what they started. Right before they revved up the engine, Maddie ran to the foot of the stairs and yelled to the upper level in one big breath, "Byekids! Haveafundayatschoolwe'regoingintotheghostzone!"

"Be safe and come back in one piece!" Jazz yelled back, with a tone of sarcasm in her voice.

And with that Maddie jumped into the vehicle and drove into the swirling green portal with her husband.

**Hmm . . . I think my chapters seem to get progressively shorter. Sorry 'bout that.**

**I'm also sorry to those of you who were expecting an update sooner, but if I try to update more than weekly, my brain'll overload, and then you'd NEVER get updates, and that wouldn't be very good, now, would it? No. But I promise that I will update every Tuesday, and if I don't, it means I'm either dead or am going through a mental breakdown from homework.**

**Now, this is the part of the show where Justina Bubbles thanks her reviewers from the last chapter:**

**Princess Nightfire – My mom has a 2-girl limit in our house, so she's making me give you my evil- err . . . wonderful little sister in return. The same no-return policy is applied. Have fun!**

**hikarisailorcat – Sorry, there won't be any Sam or Tucker in this story because of its main focus on the Danny/Parent relationship.**

**Hearts of Eternity – Thank you so much for reviewing again! I'm glad that you liked my use of Technus (he's one of my favorite villains, too). I have to apologize, though, because I don't think I'll be using him again. As for Maddie not figuring out Danny's secret – well, we'll see how that goes ;).**

**LaBOBuren – No, it's not a FOP crossover. I just decided to put in another little tidbit from the Butch universe in my story.**

**Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet – I think I've seen your name before . . . you're on the BH forum, right?**

**Also thanks to: Ghoster14, Firehedgehog, edward-tivrusky-5, Sukira-chan, Cheerin4danny, kaliAnn, Neko-Salosa, wishing for rain, bluish black dolphin, and Catnip070.**


	4. Chapter 4

**'Cause you guys were SO AWESOME in giving me SO MANY reviews SO QUICKLY, I'm gonna give you a treat: a new chapter! This is also for my dad, who just barely found out about my strange obsession, and is probably reading this. He still calls DP "Ghost Boy". Those in favor of sending him to cartoon therapy say "aye".**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. Nope. Not me. If I did . . . well, things would be a lot different. A _lot_ different. **

**A Temporary Cease Fire**

Chapter 4 

Jack and Maddie had been speeding through the ghost zone for a solid twenty minutes, both silent, both intent on their purpose: to have a good talking to to that ghost kid. That meant that twenty minutes had passed by with neither of them really thinking very rationally. Twenty minutes of them speeding deeper and deeper into the ghost zone. Twenty minutes of them getting into deeper and deeper trouble. Twenty minutes for things to get really, really bad.

Maddie snapped out of her irrational mode as she realized something very, very important.

"Jack? We've never actually been in the ghost zone before."

Her husband, surprised at the sudden noise breaking the silence and who was also at the wheel, lost control of the Speeder. Had they been on a road, or even on solid ground, for that matter, a crash most likely would have been inevitable. Fortunately, they were in the ghost zone, where there were no definite levels, and gaining control of the vehicle was easy.

"What? You saw the ghost kid? Where!" Jack exclaimed excitedly.

"No, honey. I was saying that we don't know our way around the ghost zone. We've never used the Specter Speeder before, remember?"

"Oh. Right. So you didn't see that Phantom boy?"

Maddie gave her companion a stern look, indicating that the matter she just brought up was something to be slightly more concerned about. Jack knew that look, and tried concentrate on something other than ghosts for a moment.

"Well, Maddie, it can't be that hard. I mean, look, it's not like there's any roads to get lost on, and besides, I know exactly where home is."

Maddie doubted this, knowing full well that her husband had a very, very small mental capacity, and that the chances of him keeping track of where they were while looking for D. Phantom AND driving the Specter Speeder at the same time were slim to none. All she had to do was give him another one of her looks, and he knew that he was in trouble.

"All right, maybe I don't know. But we still have the Speeder to protect us from any ghosts, and I'm sure that finding our big portal won't be that hard."

"Well, all right. We should find our way home right now, though, and have to pass up finding D. Phantom."

Jack gave her a pouty look, pleading his wife to let them keep looking to their freshly proclaimed foe, but she held to her cause. She wanted to at least be home in time to make dinner. Jack gave in, and turned the Speeder in the direction he thought was their house.

"Oh, all right. We'll go home."

The couple sped off for a couple of minutes through the green world of the ghosts in silence, deep in thought. Jack was the first to speak.

"You know, a map of the ghost zone would really come in handy."

* * *

Forty-five minutes had passed, and neither Jack nor Maddie had a clue where they were. All they could see were doors randomly floating around in all directions, and an occasional floating island-type thing. Though neither of them showed it, they were both very nervous. Maddie found it odd that there were not many ghosts floating around, like she thought there would be, and when she did spy one in the distance, they were always going into a door or looked like they were off to find another one. Jack was interested in what was actually _behind_ those doors, and as sorely as he wanted to find out, he knew his wife would prevent him from doing so.

Finally, Maddie broke down and, pulling a very wife-like stunt, asked the question that all males dread.

"Honey, maybe we should ask for directions."

"NO! I know where I'm going. We don't need to ask any stinkin' ghost where our own house is!"

"But-"

"I can do this, okay?"

Maddie crossed her arms and slumped in her seat in a very undignified manner, knowing that this was one area in which Jack's stubbornness could beat hers. She perked up, however, when she saw a very non-threatening looking figure not too far in front of them, who seemed to actually not be rushing off in a direction that would avoid the humans.

"Jack, look, there's a ghost now. Maybe it can point us in the right way."

"But it's a ghost, and I _know_ where-"

Maddie interrupted herself, asserting her rights over her husband's unwillingness to give in. "No, Jack Fenton, you do NOT know where you are going! And besides, remember what D. Phantom said? Not all ghosts are bad."

"But he lied to us." Jack, for once, made a very good point against Maddie. She pondered this for a moment, and gave in to her final weapon.

"It's better than nothing. And besides, if you do this for me I'll made you a batch of cookies."

Jack knew full well what the female beside him was doing, but he had to give in. His wife's cooking was so . . . well, it was unique, anyway, and he couldn't resist all the ghost themes she put into it.

"Fine. You have to do all the talking, though."

Maddie nodded in agreement and satisfaction, and leaned out the doorway as Jack pulled up to the ghost. The brave adventurer was actually not as nervous as she thought she'd be – she never thought that she would actually ask for help from the enemy (her pride normally wouldn't allow it), but her voice of reason usually never failed her, and right now it was saying that they needed to get home by any means possible. Besides, the ghost didn't look very threatening at all. In fact, it looked kind of weak. A closer examination found the explorer looking at a girl – teenager, by her best guess. She was wearing a long, medieval – style gown, and long hair done in a rather fancy style. The expression on her face almost made Maddie feel sorry for the being; the girl looked worried, almost to the point of crying.

"Umm . . . excuse me . . ." Maddie said in the kindest voice possible. The teenager looked her way, surprised that someone was actually talking to her. "Could you kindly point the way to the nearest portal to the human world?"

The worrying specter looked at the ghost hunter, and after pausing for a moment, asked a simple, single question.

"Do you know where the ball is?"

Maddie just stared at the person floating in front of her, and shook her head, no.

The young female looked like she was about to break down sobbing for a split second; but only a split second. The next moment her eyes turned red and her tongue flicked out from between her lips, snakelike.

"I want to go to the ball!" The ghost bellowed as she quickly morphed from her simpler, sweeter form to a large, menacing dragon.

"Jack?" Maddie squeaked, looking up at the dragon, unable to take her eyes off of the huge form in front of her.

" . . . yes?" Jack replied, also in a rather quiet, squeaky tone.

"HIT THE GAS!" Maddie yelled, securing herself into her seat.

Jack didn't have to be told twice, and in seconds they were out of range for any harm to come upon them from their most recent encounter.

* * *

Maddie had to wait for several minutes for her heart to stop beating at dangerous levels. When she had most control over herself again, she observed her surroundings, again. There were still lots of doors. And lots of green. She looked at the man sitting next to her. He also seemed to be calmed down, but she couldn't be sure. With Jack, it was hard to tell what was going on in his head. "Jack?"

He jumped slightly, as if he was woken up out of a trance. "Yes?"

Maddie was relieved that he was okay, and she shook her head. "Nothing. Do you recognize where we are?"

Jack looked around all sides intently, smiled, and looked at his wife. She perked up, waiting to hear good news. "Nope!" he replied brightly, and smiled again.

Her husband was so weird.

She was just about to speak again, maybe make a suggestion, when all of the sudden something very heavy slammed into their windshield. The pair in the Speeder snapped up in surprise, and looked at the front of their transportation.

There was a huge ghost attached to the glass, just about as big as Jack. He was blue-skinned, blonde-haired, and seemed to be wearing a pair of pajamas. He also looked not too bright.

"Will you be my frrrriiiiiiiiieeeend?" he gushed.

"Gaaaah!" more surprised at the volume he said this and his rather . . . unexpected arrival than his actual question (though that too was frightening), the two ghost fighters yelled and Jack sharply turned the steering wheel so that the uninvited visitor was flung off in the opposite direction, and again, Jack hit the gas hard and sped off in a direction that got them more lost than ever before.

* * *

Maddie was tired, Jack was exhausted, and they were both very confused and very lost. Maddie spotted a large floating island not too far away. It was by far the largest land mass they had seen so far, and it had a lot of tropical trees. They both knew that jungles could mean one of two things. Either protection or hidden danger. They hoped that it was the former. Jack instinctively steered toward the floating jungle, and scanned for an area to land.

He found a clearing large enough to land and for the two to stretch out, yet small enough to block the eyes of any wandering enemy.

Both Jack and Maddie hopped out of the Speeder, grateful for solid land to walk on. Even though this was a blessing, they knew that this was a rather unnecessary relief compared to what they really needed – food and water. Being in the ghost zone, they knew that there probably wasn't either of these. Traditionally ghosts needed neither nourishment nor air. 'But,' Maddie reminded herself, 'we _can_ breathe here, and D. Phantom was breathing rather deeply when we first saw him. For all we know, maybe ghosts need to eat, too.'

Her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. "Hey, what's that over there?" her husband asked, wonder hinting at the edges of his voice. "It almost looks like one of our inventions, just red instead of green!"

Maddie looked toward the direction that Jack was headed. There was, in fact, a shiny object lying in the grass. At closer observation, she was also filled with wonder at the amazing similarity it bore to one of the small, hand-held ectoplasmic guns they were developing. In fact, it looked almost exactly like theirs, but, as her companion pointed out, it was obviously flowing with red ectoplasma rather than their trademark green.

Jack was close to the object, and even reaching for it, when his wife realized the situation they were in. "No, Jack, don't!"

It was too late, though, and Jack had already picked it up. Maddie dropped to the ground and screamed a single order to her husband: "DUCK!"

Jack was slower than usual from their adventure so far, though, and fell to the dirt slower than his commander would have liked.

As soon as all the darts had flown completely over her, the female genius stood up and rushed to her loved one's side. She prayed that they weren't poison, or that Jack had been hit by any.

Unfortunately, he had. Fortunately, Maddie picked one up on the way to his side and was able to identify the darts as being the only temporarily paralyzing kind.

"Maddie . . . I'm so sorry . . . I love you . . ." Jack murmured dramatically. The more sensible of the two rolled her eyes and replied, "Jack, you're not dying. You're only going to be paralyzed for a little while. You're _fine_."

Jack looked up at her (with difficulty, seeing as he couldn't really move his head), and grinned sheepishly. "I knew that . . ."

"Stay there. Erm . . . I mean, don't worry, I'll get the Speeder over here and load you up and we'll be on our way again."

And, after several minutes of hard labor trying to get her large husband into the Specter Speeder, Maddie drove off again into the unknown, wondering if things could get any worse.

And thus ends part one of the aimless encounters of Jack and Maddie in the ghost zone. A can of soda and a flamingo named Bert will go to anyone who can identify which episode I referred to in each of the four sections (hint: I use one episode twice).

**Thanks to my reviewers: **

**Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet: I _knew_ I saw your username somewhere before (my name on the BH forum is AuroraZ).**

**Hearts of Eternity: I love your reviews. Really, you flatter me too much.**

**Neko-Salosa: A bit of a cliffie, eh? Well, I'm glad I left you hanging there a bit ;). Really; I'm not that good at them, but I'm practicing. **

**Princess Nightfire: Sorry, I'm allergic to grapes. Oh, and . . . sorry about your sister. My brother got a hold of her and used her as a test subject for his science project. My mom also wants my sister back, so we have to get rid of yours. She told me to tell you, just in case you wanted her before the secret government agency gets a hold of her. She might be slightly green and lumpy, though.**

**LaBOBuren: In all honesty, I made up that name because I was kinda bored with some of my other usual usernames. But, if you want a story, here it is: I like the name Justina because it's a girl's name that's only one letter short of a boy's name. Bubbles because I like bubbles a lot. If you want me to luv you forever you will buy me Catch-a-Bubbles. (Since I posted that on the internet, do I have to write a disclaimer for it? Disclaimer: I don't own Catch-A-Bubbles.)**

**Also thanks to: Ghoster14, cakreut12, Just Plain Insane, hikarisailorcat, Catnip070, Firehedgehog, wishing for rain, bluish black dolphin, and KaliAnn**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Do I own Danny Phantom? No. Do I own a pair of eggbeaters? Yes.**

**A Temporary Cease Fire**

Chapter 5 

Maddie glanced from time to time at Jack, who was laying awkwardly in the seat next to her, temporarily paralyzed. She shook her head and said nothing, not knowing quite how to comfort him, considering she was in a situation where she wasn't all too comfortable herself.

Through her exhaustion, she was allowing her mind to wander. It was something that she would normally never allow herself to do in the first place anyway, and she knew full well what the dangers were, but in the Ghost Zone it was especially dangerous.

'I wish that we could find our way back home. Or even if Jack were better, that would be great. A map would really help, like Jack said.' the ghost hunter thought. All of the sudden, a greenish smoke started swirling around the Specter Speeder. Even though Jack was in a position where it was hard for him to see anything but seat and floor, he knew that something was up.

"Uhh . . . Maddie, what's happening?"

"Don't worry, dear, we're probably just . . . hitting some ghostly weather. You know, ectoplasmic fog or something similar to that." in truth, the female intellect was scared out of her wits. The last thing that she needed was to get more lost than she already was.

Then a voice floated in from the fog. "You're heart's desire is my command . . ." The fog swirled into a place in front of the Speeder, to form a female, genie-looking ghost. The spirit waved her hands in the air, looking like she was about to cast some sort of spell.

Maddie did not want to find out what the specter was about to do, and put the Speeder in gear to back up. In her haste, she accidentally pressed one of the many buttons on the dashboard. In an instant, a green, ectoplasmic goo shot from somewhere on the exterior of the vehicle, hitting the genie ghost and throwing her back into the distance. The woman ghost hunter blinked a couple times in surprise, then looked at the button she had accidentally pressed. 'That's odd . . . I don't remember that being there.' she thought to herself. "Jack? How long has that button been there?"

"Button . . . button . . . hmm." Jack, still paralyzed, thought hard. "Oh yes, the button that shoots ectoplasmic goo! I added that weeks ago! I can't believe that I almost forgot about it!"

Maddie sat and fumed for a moment. She was about to get frustrated at her husband for not telling her about the weapon that would have been rather helpful for some of their previous encounters. She counted to ten, though, reminding herself that her companion already was having a tough time as it was.

Neither Jack nor Maddie could believe that they were still lost. By this time, both of them had expressed their worries in subtle ways to each other. Well, Maddie was subtle, anyways. Jack, on the other hand, was not.

"Are we almost home yet?" "We've been gone for at least four hours, now." "This place gives me the creeps." Were a few of the still paralyzed ghost expert. "This position is getting rather uncomfortable. Is there some place we can stop where my face isn't smashed into vinyl?"

"I see some sort of large building in the distance. I don't know how friendly the ghosts will be, but at this point I think we should take whatever chances we've got."

After that, silence set into the married couple. Jack couldn't think of how to reply, and Maddie simply didn't have anything to say. She was focusing all of her attention on her surroundings. Even though she had previously thought the Ghost Zone couldn't get any creepier, she had somehow successfully stumbled upon a section that gave her even colder chills than before. There were fewer doors than other sections, and they didn't float up and down slightly like the other ones did. They were just very, very still. It was as if all things had died. 'Well, of course they're dead,' Maddie corrected herself, 'perhaps . . . evil is more of a better adjective.'

The large building was getting closer and closer. Maddie could now, at this point, make it out to be a castle. Her unease was starting to grow, as a large, cold castle that seemed to be abandoned wasn't her ideal stopping place.

As she reflected upon this subject, something caught her eye. A small poster was floating along the breeze Maddie hadn't realized was there before. Though she didn't want to immerse herself more into something that could cause an even greater amount of trouble for Jack and herself, curiosity won over, and as the Speeder approached the area it was in, the female genius pressed the "automatic" button on the dashboard so she could free her hands for a minute, and stuck her arm out the side and grabbed the paper.

It was a brownish piece of parchment, slightly crumpled and torn on the sides. Maddie straightened it out and looked at the back. The name GHOST ZONE was stamped on. She turned the poster over and studied the picture on it. She was surprised to find that it was D. Phantom, but it wasn't like how she had seen him before. He was wearing prison garb, and was holding a card with a number on it. He had a rather cocky grin on, as if he knew he did something wrong. Or that he knew something that the photographer didn't.

At closer study, Maddie was shocked to find that she felt like she was looking at someone she had known for a long time. Not just someone that she knew, but someone that she cared about, too. Her eyes quickly scanned the rest of the poster. At the top was the word WANTED in big, bold letters. Beneath the photo were the words DANNY PHANTOM. "Danny . . ." Maddie muttered to herself, her mind all of the sudden racing at hundreds of miles per hour.

She was interrupted by a groan beside her. She quickly folded up the poster and stuck it in her pocket and tended to her husband. "Hey, I can move my arms and legs again!" Jack said appreciatively, and got himself into a sitting position. He stretched out his limbs, and looked forward. "Great timing, too! Now I can stretch in that castle up ahead!"

"Yeah, great." Maddie whispered to herself, doubtful that it really was.

Maddie stepped through the open front doors of the castle cautiously. She had a very, very bad feeling about this place, and wanted to leave and try to find someplace else. Jack had reminded her that this was probably their only place to find provisions. In his own special way, of course. "Boy, am I hungry. And thirsty. I wonder why we never packed any food or water in the Speeder? I wonder if this place has any human things?"

Maddie started wondering the same things, even though logic told her contrary.

She wasn't entirely sure what happened next, but all of the sudden things got very dark, and the overall feeling got very weird. She looked at Jack, who, by the look on his face, also knew that something was going on. The very next moment, things got very frightening.

The walls had not only grown spikes, but they were closing in on the couple. They both screamed and looked frantically up and down the hallway. It seemed that they were right in the middle of the hallway, and either way they ran it would take a while to get beyond the threat. In fact, there might have not even been enough time. So they ran as fast as they could back toward the front door, where they at least knew they wouldn't have to deal with any more traps.

Maddie ran as fast as she could, and was expecting Jack to keep up with her, but it seemed that his joints still weren't working properly, and he was considerably slower than usual. She doubled back to help her husband. "Hurry Jack, there's only a few more seconds before the walls close in all the way! Come _on!_"

"I'm coming, I'm coming! We'll make it, don't worry!" the large man shouted back at his wife, focusing all of his energy on getting to safety.

But Maddie knew that there was no hope. There was only about a foot of allowance on either side of them, the walls were closing in fast, and there were still several meters to run. She braced herself for the end, wishing that she could at least have told her kids goodbye.

But nothing happened. At first she thought that the spikes had killed her instantly, but when she opened her eyes, she was surprised. It was dark, but not like the dark where there was an absence of light. It was more like she was in really murky water. It felt like she was in murky water, too, except that it was not just around her, but also _through_ her. She gripped the large hand holding hers and stepped forward, seeing if she could walk. She was surprised that she could; in fact, it felt as if she was walking on solid ground.

She walked on silently, unsure of her ability to talk, pulling her companion along the entire time. It didn't take long before light met her eyes again, and she gasped in surprise. She was right back at the entrance of the castle, meaning that if she did die, she certainly wasn't in a "better" or "worse" place. She looked behind her, and saw that the orange-clad arm she was attached to was sticking out of the two slammed-together walls. She shrieked and let go quickly, not knowing how to react.

As soon as she let go she heard her husband's voice. "Maddie? Is something wrong?" Jack walked out from the solid wall and looked at her confused, then looked back at the wall. "Whoa. Freaky."

"Jack, do you think we're ghosts? I mean, how on earth could we have survived that trap?"

Jack turned his face quickly to look at his loved one, and brought it up to only a couple inches in front of hers. He examined her face for a few intent minutes, and then stood up straight again and proclaimed his conclusion confidently. "No, Maddie, you look as beautiful as ever." Then his stomach growled. "It also seems that I'm still humanly hungry, and therefore it would make no sense that I would be a ghost. Besides, it would be rather silly if we had to start hunting ourselves, so I say that we can't be."

Maddie, as always, was confused by the way her husband's logic worked, but she grinned at how it made her laugh anyway. "Still, I think we should double check and use the ghost scanner on the Specter Speeder."

They approached the vehicle, cautious, not knowing if it would attack them or not, and Jack got out his key chain with a mini remote that controlled some of the car's functions, and pressed the button for the ghost scanner. "Jack, when did you get a remote to control the Speeder?"

He looked at his wife as if she just said something to where the answer should have been obvious, and replied, "I make it weeks ago!"

Maddie was about to reply to this statement, when a beep was heard from the dashboard inside the Speeder. The couple rushed up to it and listened anxiously for the results. "No ghosts within 50 yards" the voice monotonously droned, and Jack and Maddie breathed a sigh of relief.

Immediately, then, both their minds started thinking for reasons as to why they were able to walk through the walls. Maddie stood there silent, several hypothesis rushing through her head.

Jack, on the other hand, only had one come to his head at a time, and didn't bother using logic to rule out the first one that came to mind. He went right in and tested it. He walked up to the wall of the castle, made a fist, and punched the wall, hard. Instead of either breaking through the stone wall or hurting his fist very badly, like he thought would happen, his fist went right through the wall, and because of the force that went into it, he followed right through.

Maddie rushed up to her husband to make sure he was okay. Her help was not needed, though, apparent by the way Jack stood right up again, without a scratch anywhere and a grin on his face. "Hey, look, Maddie! It seems like in the Ghost Zone, _we're_ the ghosts! Cool, huh?"

Maddie was very impressed with this new finding, and was about to go further with the study, but a threatening rumble from inside the castle drove both her and her companion right back to their transportation and they sped in the opposite direction of the foreboding building.

Maddie brightened up as she thought she recognized a group of floating doors and began hoping that she and Jack were getting un-lost. She tapped the driver on the shoulder and opened her mouth to tell her husband the exciting news, when she was interrupted for the umpteenth time that day, this time by nothing more than things getting very, very still and silent. It was even more still and silent than around the castle, as if someone had pushed a pause button on everything around them.

Both of the vehicle's passengers looked around, curious about what could have caused the sudden change, when a loud, deep, stern voice from nowhere spoke.

"Driving an unauthorized vehicle in an unauthorized zone . . ."

A large white face loomed up in front of the terrified ghost hunters.

"That's against the rules."

Yep, it's Walker. Am I evil for leaving the chapter at that, or what? I would like to give a SUPER THANKS to my reviewers. You guys are so quick to respond – I got something like 18 reviews within the first 24 hours of posting the last chapter! That's one review every 1.3 hours! (Though I'm not very willing to admit it, I am a math geek.)

**A cookie goes to everyone who answered my challenge. Here's the answers: The first section was from Prisoners of Love (or, as my friend pointed out later, FtF, where Sam, Tucker, and Danny were working on making a map of the Ghost Zone), the second was from Prisoners of Love, the third was from Fanning the Flames, and the last was from Life Lessons. The can of soda and flamingo named Bert goes to everyone who got it right!**

**I still need votes to put my dad in cartoon therapy. Sukira-Chan suggested that he be sent to Jazz Fenton herself. I think that's a pretty good idea.**

**And now to actually thank everyone:**

**LaBOBuren – Bubbles! Bubblesbubblesbubbles! Who is this David, destroyer of bubbles? I must have a good talking-to to him.**

**Anomaly25 – I hope this answered your doubt about Jack and Maddie knowing about their own abilities in the Ghost Zone ;).**

**Hearts of Eternity – Sexy Beast? Well, I've never had anyone call me that before ;).**

**Catnip070 – Thank you. I try my best to keep Jack and Maddie as close to character as possible.**

**Princess Nightfire – Yeah, my mom kinda wants my sister back. And I won't tell anyone you have a deformed sister. (Can I have Izzy back now? That's what I named the aardvark.)**

**Ari-Griffin – Nice to see you! Yeah, I've seen you around in the off topic section. I post mostly there, too. **

**Hikarisailorcat, Obi-quiet, Firehedgehog, Edward-tivursky-5, OSparrow, Ghoster14, Sukira-chan, cakreut12, Liaranne, Just Plain Insane, KaliAnn, bluish black dolphin, and Grey Raven North.**

**Finally, I regret to say that there will not be a new chapter next Tuesday. I have an AP exam for World History on the third from noon to three thirty, and I need to spend my time studying until then. I'm being bad enough as it is not studying right now. And, when I do update, I promise that there will be some more of Danny.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Hey guess what! I'm going to San Francisco tomorrow for a three-day vacation! And you know what else? I STILL won't own Danny Phantom there!**

**A Temporary Cease Fire**

Chapter 6 

"That's against the rules."

Jack and Maddie weren't quite sure what to do. They were pretty much all out of adrenaline at this point, and though they were surprised and a little scared (this ghost was, after all, about twenty times the size of the speeder), their first instinct was not to run, but to logically think of a way out of the situation. They both scanned the area around them quickly. As the large ghost finished talking, several more normal-sized ghosts appeared all around the Specter Speeder, as well as above and below it. Glancing at the scanner on the dashboard, there were several more ghosts detected, meaning some of them must have been invisible.

They both came to the same conclusion: though there was the distinct possibility that they could simply pass through these ghosts like they did the walls in the castle, these ghosts looked exactly like the ones that terrorized the city only a few months ago, and they had caused quite a bit of damage to many human objects then. If that was the case, they did not want to take the chance of escaping, even with all the weapons on and in the Speeder, because they were outnumbered about twelve to one, and the ghosts were armed as well, and there was no way of telling if the weapons the ghosts held were strong or not. Seeing as they were also quite famished and their energy level was extremely low, there was the chance that more damage would be caused to themselves than to the ghosts.

In all, it would be a bad idea to fight.

"You're under arrest. If you come with me quietly, I might go easier on your sentence. Might." The large ghost laughed at his own malice, and led the way.

It was an awkward situation for the ghost hunters. Though they had been taken out of their comfort zone for the past few hours anyway, they were able to at least run away from or fight the ghosts they had come in contact with. Now they were being escorted – with no escape – by twenty-five or so ghosts to . . . well, a ghost jail of some sort, they assumed. After all the years of thinking that they, the humans, were superior, had the upper hand, that ghosts were just beasts, here they were, being treated like common criminals, by the things- people they had oppressed for years.

It was actually very humbling, in a way, but Jack and Maddie didn't care about any life lessons at the moment. They just wanted to get home.

They looked at each other and whispered their first words to each other since they had been captured.

"So . . . where do you think they're taking us?" Jack asked Maddie, although he already had an idea as to where they were being led.

Maddie was aware of this, also, but didn't care. Just hearing another _human_ voice was comforting. "A jail or prison of some sort, I suppose. I saw a wanted poster while you were paralyzed."

"Oh really? For who?" Jack was genuinely intrigued by this, and wondered if it was perhaps a ghost he had seen before.

"It's interesting, actually. It was for . . ." but Maddie was cut off when their vehicle, which had been led by several ghosts, jerked to a stop.

The large, white ghost was no where to be seen when they looked back up, but was replaced by a foreboding prison building that was just floating there in space, unsupported by any land, unlike the previous places they had landed before. The huge iron double doors creaked open, and again the Specter Speeder was forced forward, into the facility.

Immediately the Speeder was forced to take a sharp left, into what looked like a holding room.

"Get outta there! You've got an appointment with the warden!" a gruff-voiced ghost prodded Jack and Maddie with a long stick-like instrument, and they quickly and silently obliged.

Jack glanced around, hoping for some sort of exit. He saw a break in the guards, and thought of how easy it would be to run through the gap and proceed through the walls.

Maddie felt her husband's apprehension, and quickly realized what he might have been planning. She touched his elbow, smiled lovingly and understandingly, and very quietly whispered, "Remember, we can't travel without the Specter Speeder. Otherwise I think we'd just fall down until . . . well, we might even just keep falling."

Jack nodded, understanding but disappointed. He continued thinking of ways to escape anyway, though, and from the intent – almost _too_ intent – way his wife was looking forward, he could tell that she was doing the same. He smiled slightly and randomly thought of how happy he was that he married such a wonderful person.

They passed through the next doorway, and yet another similar looking ghost to the one that had prodded them out of their transportation coldly demanded, "Take off all weapons. And don't even think of using them or keeping them as a try to escape. You're outnumbered ten to one."

Well, at least there were four less than there had been before.

Jack and Maddie obliged, and though they thought of slipping in a small weapon or two into their boots or gloves, Jack's growling stomach reminded them that the only thing that they could do until they at least got some rest was plan. No chances could be taken yet.

As soon as all the guards put shackles on the couple and were finally satisfied that Jack and Maddie no longer posed a threat to them of any kind, they were yet again forced to walk to yet another room. An office, actually, which was a big step up from the last couple rooms, seeing as they were completely empty. This one actually had a feeling of inhabitance to it.

The guards retreated out the door, leaving Jack and Maddie alone. They watched the troop of ghosts leave, and as soon as the door was closed again, they turned around to face the desk. The big, plush chair behind it, which had previously been turned back toward them, swiveled around to reveal . . . the big, white ghost that had originally captured them. Except this time he wasn't big. He was actually normal sized, which brought out a small sigh of relief from Maddie. Their situation didn't seem quite as impossible this way.

He smirked and gestured to the two straight-backed chairs in front of him. "Please, sit down, and if you can, make yourself comfortable."

Amity Park's heroes hesitated at first wondering if the chairs were there to cause harm, but looked at each other and almost unprofessionally shrugged. Hey, it's not like things could get much worse, right? So they sat down, and found that the only thing bad about the chairs were that they were very cold and a little _too_ straight-backed.

The ghost stood up and paced in front of the uncomfortable humans. "My name is Walker, and you have made some serious violations of the Ghost Zone rules. It is my job to enforce these rules, and to keep order, I will be your judge, executioner, jury, executioner, jailer, and if necessary, your executioner."

Jack raised a finger and interrupted, "You . . . you said executioner three times."

Walker chuckled and said smoothly, "Yes. As always, I like that part of the job. That line never gets old. Onto business now, shall we?"

He leaned on the edge of his desk, never losing his smoothness. "Choosing your sentence will be quite an interesting task. Seeing as it's your first offence, and I hadn't personally warned you, I should let you go."

Jack and Maddie nodded in agreement, quite quickly and eagerly. Walker seemed to be a little just, at least, and they hoped that he would lean toward their favor.

"And I have seen you at work – a fine enforcement of order, I must say. Almost fine enough to have my admiration."

Jack and Maddie continued nodding their heads, practically crying in relief at their close freedom.

"Of course, you are humans, and humans shouldn't even be allowed in the ghost zone. I also thought that I already sent plenty warning that there were rules here, rules that need to be adhered to strictly. And as for your vehicle . . . that's the third time I've seen it without registration. The penalty for that is at least three hundred years, and for driving in an unauthorized zone, another hundred fifty. For trespassing, another two hundred, and for traveling without a visa, five hundred. But for being model citizens . . . let's say we take off a hundred fifty?"

Maddie's job dropped. "_A thousand years?_ But we'll die long before then! And since when have you seen the Specter Speeder before?"

Walker gave another evil chuckle. "Right. You're mortal. Well, it's a good thing you're in the _Ghost Zone_, isn't it?"

Jack, getting back to his normal self, muttered to Maddie, "He does have a point."

Maddie elbowed him, and he gave a quiet yelp.

Walker rolled his eyes at the immaturity of beings so much younger than he, and he pressed the button for the guards to come in and take the humans to their cell.

* * *

Jack and Maddie started falling into a depression within the first five minutes of their being in their new cell. The thought of spending a thousand years in the same cell, with their mortal- err, immortal enemies bummed them out. Jack was even further thrown into sadness at the thought of never being able to invent or hunt ghosts again, and that he'd be _living _with them, and Maddie shed a tear at never seeing her family again.

Maddie shook her head to clear it up, and tried to get back to her get-up-and-go self again. 'We need to think about our plan to get out again. Just because I was thrown in here doesn't mean that I'm gonna stay in here. Get back on track, Maddie. What was it we just barely found out? What was it that we needed to know about humans in the Ghost Zone? Ooh, I'm so hungry and tired . . . I can't think.' She collapsed down to the ground on the spot, partially out of fatigue and partially out of despair, and looked through the bars to see if a guard was going to bring any food to them. She looked at Jack, who seemed like he was about to doze off, and she felt her eyelids grow heavier and heavier.

She almost fell asleep, when all of the sudden she heard a succession of noises that intrigued her. First was a rustling, then a moan, then the ghostly, gruff voice of one of the guards saying, "Tell the warden that the halfa is awake. He said that he wanted to talk to him once he was conscious." The female prisoner sat straight up and then crawled to one of the ends of the room, trying to see to the other cell. She remembered that there was only one other cell in the room when she and Jack were pushed into their holding area, but she couldn't see who was in it. She was about to whisper to their fellow prisoner, but Walker came striding in from the other side of the room and positioned himself in a business-like stance in front of the neighboring cell. Maddie shrank back a little, knowing that there was really no need to make herself inconspicuous, but did it anyway out of habit.

"So, I finally have you back in my care." Walker began, gloating. "The great Danny Phantom was taken down simply because he was too careless to remember he was right in front of the portal to my domain."

Maddie drew in a sharp breath and pressed herself harder against the wall at the name of the other prisoner. She looked at Jack, who was in a deep sleep (and snoring slightly), and wondered whether she should wake him up or not. She decided not to when Danny Phantom started talking.

"Yeah, and I can see that you were careless enough to remember what I am."

Maddie saw a bright, light blue flash reflect on the wall, followed not long after by a loud 'clang' and a louder 'OW!'

Walker laughed a loud, hearty laugh. "Do you really think I would make the same mistake twice? No, no . . . I made sure that these two cells were specially made so that neither ghost nor human can get out."

Oh yeah. _That's_ what Maddie was trying to remember. Well, that option was ruled out.

"Don't even bother trying to escape this time. We have your vehicle and the two best people that can save you imprisoned, also. We'll also be bringing your food to you, so that we don't have to worry about another breakout. We have it all figured out this time, ghost boy. _I've won._" Walker broke out in another round of laughter, and he strolled out of the room, as well as the rest of the guards.

Maddie stayed tensed up for another minute, and then relaxed when she heard no other sounds. She glanced at Jack again, who happened to still be sleeping soundly. She leaned over to the bars, made sure the coast was clear once more, and then whispered loudly, "Phantom? Danny Phantom?"

"Wha-? Mo- umm . . . Maddie, is that you?" There was another light blue flash of light, and then Maddie saw some of Danny Phantom's hair and face poking out. "How did you know my first name?"

**And thus Justina Bubbles left off right there, in part because she thought it would be a good cliffhanger, and in part because she was just sick and tired of the rate she was typing at.**

**Soo . . . didya miss me? That AP World History Exam was killer – it took four hours long to do, and my hand was dead for a couple days. Also, I really will be going to San Francisco, and depending on how much makeup work I have for school, I may or may not update next week. I better see a lot of review alerts when I get home, though eyes all people who read this fic with a suspicious eye. And no slacking off in your reviews, either, 'cause this was an especially hard chapter to write. Grumbles angrily something that sounds like "stupid writers block"**

**Aaaanyways, I shall go on to thanking all my beautiful reviewers, now. **

**BekukiChan - I'm sorry . . .I think I forgot to thank you last chapter '**

**Catnip070 - You see, I don't think Maddie has figured it out yet, exactly. I did say that Maddie's mind started racing, but not that she figured it out.**

**LaBOBuren - I appreciate you being one of my best reviewers, but I politely ask that you don't post up songs like the one that you did in your last review. I find them rude and inappropriate. Please, keep your reviews PG.**

**Princess Nightfire - Yay! Izzy! Yay! A crumpled piece of paper! Oh, and for reviewing again, here's a blank CD that one of the kids I babysit for colored on with marker. Really, it's a piece of art.**

**Hearts of Eternity - I had better start hearing angels soon, lol.**

**Also thanks to: KaliAnn, Cakreut12, bluish black dolphin, Firehedgehog, Obi-quiet, Ghoster14, edward-tivrusky-5, Master of Procrastination, Neko-Salosa, Cyllwen, Rei Tamashii, and anyone else I may have stupidly forgotten.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Checks watch Noooo . . . nope. I still don't own Danny Phantom since the last time I checked.**

**A Temporary Cease Fire**

**Chapter 7**

"How did you know my first name? I . . . I don't ever remember telling it to you." Danny Phantom hesitated to ask.

Maddie leaned in closer, voice barely louder than she dared it to be. "I simply found a 'Wanted' poster while wandering around the ghost zone with your picture on it."

"You were wandering around the ghost zone? _Why?_! That's possibly one of the stupidest things you can do – EVER. Uh, no offense intended, of course. I hold you and Jack in the highest esteem-"

Maddie cut him off before the young ghost in the cell beside her could go any further. "Yeah, yeah, stop brown-nosing. We're still going to hunt you down after we get out of here."

"YOU'RE STILL GOING TO – wait, did you say 'we'?"

Maddie sighed; slightly frustrated at herself for what she was planning on doing, though her conscious was patting her on the back, proud. "Yes, 'we'. Jack and I . . . well, we owe you for the Technus incident. That doesn't mean that we forgive you, though."

Danny was honestly confused, and in a tone that was almost whining, said, "Why? You aren't still thinking of the incident with Johnny 13, are you?"

"Yes I am! I can't believe that we TRUSTED you! And yet you turned around and pulled that on us! Not only did we lose that trust, but also it was a stupid thing to do, pulling that stunt on us right under our noses. Did you seriously think that you could do that while we were in the same room and get away with it? I mean,"

Danny was the one to cut her off this time. "Um . . . not to make you hate me even more, but you're starting to rant. Listen, you never let me explain myself, and I think I deserve a chance."

"I'm not giving you ghosts any more chances. I don't even know why we didn't exterminate you the first time we saw you in that warehouse with what's-his-name."

"Skulker. Please, I know that you two are very understanding people, and if you could just hear me out . . ."

"I already told you, no. Don't talk to me anymore, Jack and I need to find a way out."

Jack woke up with this statement, and jumped up eagerly. "I found a way out? Great! Let's go!" And, without a second thought, he marched straight into the bars of the cell in which he and his wife were being held.

Maddie stood up and walked over to her husband, who was knocked onto his back from the impact of his body against bars. "No, dear, you and I still need to find a way out. Come on, help me check the walls, there must be a weak spot." With that, she started examining every inch of her cell, Jack following suit not long after.

Maddie heard a sort of slumping sound on the other side of the wall, as if Danny had slid down it onto the floor. He started talking, _again_.

"I don't care if you're listening or not, I believe that I get the chance to explain myself, so that's what I'm gonna do."

Jack froze at the sound of his voice, and then grinned. "Danneh! How'd you get into the ghost zone? And why is your voice all echo-y? Young man, why aren't you at school? You're going to be grounded once we get out of here."

Maddie jumped to her husband's side and put a hand over his mouth before he could say anything else. "Dear, wrong Danny. That's Danny _Phantom_ in the cell beside us – you know, D. Phantom? Danny is his first name. And please, just ignore him. We're still mad at him for the whole Johnny 13 incident, remember?" Once she was sure that Jack wasn't going to make another outburst spasmodically, she lifted her hand off his mouth and raised an eyebrow and nodded, indicating that they should continue putting an effort into finding a way out. He nodded back, and before turning around to inspect the other side of the cell, mouthed, "Not Danny?" with a sad look on his face, and Maddie nodded back.

Danny Phantom continued on, ignoring the orange and black-clad male's previous outburst. "Yeah, Johnny 13 is kinda a bad ghost, but . . . not as bad? I know that doesn't make sense, but it's not like he's bent on doing evil things, like most other ghosts. I mean, think about it, if I thought he was really that bad, would I have brought him into the other world right in front of you? He's not interested in taking over the world or revenge or hunting people down, he simply wants to be with his girlfriend in a place where they can be happy, which unfortunately is most of the time not in the ghost zone, where they both really belong. He and I don't really like each other – he once tried to hurt someone close to me, and I stopped him, but once I got his girlfriend to go back to him after . . . well, after an incident that I'd rather not think about any more, he and I could tolerate each other. Since then, we've been caught in a chain of 'IOU's', where we do favors for each other when we need them most. Most of the time the favor he asks me of is to get him out of the ghost zone, which I hate doing, so most of the time I send him back to the ghost zone after a few days. I dunno how I'm going to do that if I'm stuck in here, though."

Maddie, though trying hard to ignore him, couldn't help but listen, as there was no other sound in the room they were in, and unconsciously replied, "Why are you in here anyway?" Jack looked questioningly over at his companion, wondering why she was talking to their apparent enemy, but from the way she wasn't acting like she had done anything, he guessed that she wasn't aware that she had said anything.

Danny was, in turn, also surprised, but continued on, hopeful that maybe she was softening up. "A while back I was arrested by Walker, sentenced to one thousand years here for possessing an unauthorized object in an unauthorized zone and trespassing after a first warning or something like that."

Jack couldn't help but speak up at the amazing coincidence that Danny just pointed out. "Hey, that's why we were sentenced here for a thousand years, too! And you know, the funny thing is, Walker said that it was the third time he had seen the Specter-" Maddie elbowed him, making him be quiet and indicating that they were still mad at him.

Danny, too into his own story now, ignored all other sounds in the cell. "I wasn't too bent on the idea of spending a thousand years in jail, especially since I hadn't actually done anything wrong – I was retrieving a present that, had it been missing would have caused catastrophe, for heaven's sake! Neither were some of my prison mates, so, even though they hated my guts for sending them to the Ghost Zone in the first place, we planned a jailbreak and got away. He was the most upset at me, I think, because I got out right in front of him. He tried again to get me into jail, even though I wasn't in the ghost zone, and again I got away from him. He got his revenge that time, though, and made me public enemy number one by overshadowing the mayor, as well as giving me the name 'Inviso-Bill'. Ugh, I hate that name. Anyway, I was making sure to be careful after that and never set myself up for another trap, but obviously I wasn't careful enough, and got myself into this mess."

Maddie was still trying very hard to ignore him, but her voice of reason was telling her that everything that he was saying made sense. Jack, on the other hand, remembered the very first conversation they had overheard between Danny and Skulker in the warehouse, and put two and two together. "So you _were_ telling the truth back by the docks when you said you were framed."

Jack could hear Danny jumping up and going to the bars that were holding him in so that he could get a slight view of his large inmate. Jack did the same, and Danny asked in one breath, "So you believe me? You don't think I'm evil and that I betrayed you and you have to hunt me down?"

"Well, I don't know all that for sure, but I sure like you a lot better now!"

The two chatted on happily and animatedly, like . . . well, like father and son. Maddie had stopped looking for a weak point in the cell and had closed her eyes, breathing deeply. She was torn between what she wanted to believe and what her conscious and voice of reason was telling her. She, too, had put two and two together, but . . . she simply didn't want to believe that the teen in the cell next to her couldn't have possibly caused this whole mess. She looked at Jack, desperately trying to find an answer to her feelings, and gave in to her conscious. Jack was a little absent-minded, but when he had a good feeling about someone, they were always trustworthy. She turned around and interrupted their conversation.

"You said that you got out of here once, so you must know all the weak spots in this prison. Let's compile all the facts and figure out how to get out of here."

She couldn't see Danny very well, but if she could, she would have seen a warm smile on his face.

* * *

"Argh! We've been trying to plan this thing for hours!" Jack cried out, frustrated at their useless attempts to plan a breakout.

Maddie looked out the window, and tried to take deep, even breaths, just as frustrated as her husband. It was true what he said; they had been at it for hours. Even with the food that they had been fed not too long after their agreement to work together fueling them, it was still hard to concentrate.

This was what the past few hours had been like:

They had compiled all of the facts involving the prison and their resources, but they had soon discovered that not only were the only resources they had were their brains and the clothes off their back, as well as a couple pillows and sheets in Jack and Maddie's cell (Walker had such a grudge on Danny that he hadn't even provided that much in his cell) and the paper plates their meager portions of food came on, but that Danny had only been in the prison for a few hours the last time he was imprisoned, and therefore he hardly even knew his way around the building. That phase of their planning didn't take very long at all.

After that, they had started coming up with theories on the structure of the building, what mistakes Walker could possibly could make (based on the personality profile Danny provided and some of the things Jack and Maddie had learned concerning psychology from their daughter), what the guard's schedules were, etc. Again, that didn't take very long, and again, they were stuck.

For about an hour and a half after that, Jack and Danny tried breaking out using brute force. Jack slammed against all the walls and bars of the cell, shaking the room, and Danny was doing the same, though between slams there was always that same bright blue light Maddie had seen earlier, and with every other slam there was an ectoplasmic blast.

That was so tiring that neither of the males could move or think very well after that, leaving Maddie by herself to think the situation out. They all took a nap not too long after, hoping that the rest would help recharge them, but it hadn't done too well, as the trio were left going around in circles and frustrated.

Maddie rubbed her face with both hands, trying to get her brain to get out of the loop it had put itself in. She paused, and then rubbed her face again, this time slowly, as if she were feeling for something. She did it one more time, then jumped up, excited. She then sat back down; not wanting to seem too excited, for a guard came through the room to check up on the prisoners at that moment. She eyed the ghost carefully, waiting patiently for it to leave.

Once it had, Jack looked at her questioningly, even he not being able to misinterpret her action as anything but odd. "Um, Maddie? Please tell me there's a reason why you're acting a little, um, crazy."

She leaned in toward him, then pulled back, and walked over to the side of the cell so that Danny could hear this as well. "My engagement ring! Jack, remember how you wanted to put in a miniature ectoplasmic cannon in the diamond, but how you were short on money?" He nodded, not quite sure where she was going with this. "Remember how, instead, you had a mini laser gun put in?" He nodded, still not sure where she was going with this. She paused, hoping that Danny just _might_ be catching on to where she was getting at. Neither of her companions answered, so she sighed and went on. "Walker said that neither ghost nor human could get out of these cells, which – and I know this is kind of a stretch – implies that what these cells are made of are part man made and part ghost made. Unless ghost technology is more advanced than ours, which I seriously doubt, those two parts cannot fuse together and still be stable. Since lasers are a man made thing . . ." She trailed off, hoping that maybe NOW one of the other two were catching on. Again, both were silent, so Maddie rolled her eyes and started again.

Right before she was going to say the first word, Danny interrupted, and through an amazing miracle said, "Oooh, so since lasers are a man made thing, and part of the bars are man made, you can cut away the man made part and walk through the ghost part. Um, right?"

"Exactly. I don't know where the keys are, though, so I don't know how it's going to help you."

"Don't worry about it. Just cut away what you can and, um, I'll figure out how to get out from there." The ghost teen replied, barely whispering the last part, as if he was giving away a secret.

Of course Maddie was confused why he was acting the way he was, but for the sake of the story, she didn't think too much about it, because she had other things to focus on. Like . . . where they were going to go after they broke out, what would happen if the ghost guards caught them, and how fast, exactly, they'd have to run if they were chased. Ha. It's a joke, get it? No, they didn't think it was too funny, either.

She quickly thought all this through, and started planning their escape with the other two.

Two hours later, the green guard was passing through the high-security prisoner's room again, tired. He had no idea why Walker was making him do this; there was no way the halfa or the humans could get out, and they were weak enough that they wouldn't go far anyway. He paused just for a minute to take a final glance at the prisoners; they were asleep at the moment, though he could have sworn he saw the large one blinking. He shrugged it off, and then went out the opposite side of the room.

As soon as he was gone, the three captives jumped up and got to work. Maddie took off her glove and adjusted her ring to the laser mode.

She took in a deep breath and hoped that her theory was correct. Assuming that the prison was a square, and that the area that the guard patrolled was also square, she calculated that with a guard coming in every forty minutes, she only had four minutes to spare to get the bars in both the cells cut down, then the trio had another eleven minutes to find the Specter Speeder and get out without being noticed. She hoped.

She cut down the top part of the bars . . . then the bottom . . . and nothing happened. Well, something did happen, but it was very, very strange. The bars fell away, making a rather large CLANK on the floor, but it looked as if they hadn't left their place at all, or as if only their shadow had left their place. She stared at the bars on the floor, and the bars keeping them in. They looked exactly the same. The whole thing unnerved her.

Jack looked at her expectantly, quite the opposite of what she was feeling, waiting for her to phase through. When she didn't he went right ahead and left the cell, going right through the bars that were left up. "Maddie, you coming?"

Again, she was rather unnerved by the fact that her husband all of the sudden seemed to go right through the iron bars, and even more so by the fact that ghosts didn't use anything that resembled ectoplasma to contain their felons. She ignored the fact that it didn't really make sense, and left the cell to start on Danny's bars. She quickly cut away enough bars for him to slide through (though how he was going to do so, she had no idea), and she and Jack silently left through the door they had originally been led through.

The plan was going well so far; now all they had to do was find the Specter Speeder, and wait for Danny's signal to shoot off. Apparently he was going to catch up and follow them, invisible, just in case trouble showed up, and leave with them, phasing through the walls of the prison.

She and Jack quietly and quickly snaked their ways through the halls, hoping that they were going the right way. Though they were tempted to just phase through the walls until they found the room their vehicle was in, the risk of being seen was greater that way. Better stick with the old-fashioned way.

Here were the facts they needed to focus on at the moment: they knew how to get from Walker's office to their cell and from Walker's office to the room the Speeder was being held in, but not from their cell to the room. And they had to figure out their way around and escape within eleven minutes.

No pressure, right?

Heh. Another joke.

They sneaked around (they refused to think the words "wandering aimlessly") for a good seven minutes, and just when Maddie thought she had a good clue where they were, several things happened at once, all within a mere three seconds.

Jack tripped on himself, making a huge crashing sound and yelling a rather loud "Woah!" An alarm went off, lights flashing and a siren going off, alerting all guards to their presence outside their cell. An exasperated voice shouted something like "Dad!" and a breeze zoomed by Jack and Maddie.

The moments after that were chaos. To sum it all up, about thirty guards came and surrounded Jack and Maddie, looking ready to shoot them in case they were violent. Jack and Maddie were ready to fight, but all of the sudden yet another alarm went off, confusing the guards as to where they should be.

The ghost hunting couple took this momentary distraction to their advantage, and shoved their way through the crowd of confused guards, sending several flying through the air. After that, they ran, not caring if they went through the walls or not. They didn't run far, though, when they had to freeze and study the scene around them. They were in a large common room, and . . . well, like most of the prison, it was chaos. Ghost prisoners were streaming in through all doors, some just escaped through their cells, and were joining in a fight against what seemed like the entire prison staff. Everyone was shouting something or another, but the one that actually came through above everyone else's and that struck Jack and Maddie as odd was, "Déjà vu!"

Danny Phantom flew up to them, and shouted above the noise, "If all goes as it does last time, we'd better get out of here, quick!" With that, he shoved them through the doors closest to them, and led them through the twisting hallways. In a panic, he shouted, "The Speeder is down this hallway, to the left, then the second door on our right! We have to hurry in case-"

He was cut off when they made the left, because a group of not-too-nice-looking ghosts met them. At the head of the group was Walker. Behind him were about five other ghosts, including Skulker, Technus, and a lady who looked like she should have been haunting a bingo hall.

_Hey you guys! I am so incredibly sorry it's been near-forever since I've updated. The weekend after I went to San Francisco I went out of state AGAIN, and the weekend after that I had to study for finals. But, now school's out and I should be getting back to updating weekly. As my apology, I tried making this chapter a couple pages longer._

_I suppose that there's also a couple of things I should explain that went on in this chapter. Jack and Maddie's cell is right next to Danny's, not across from it or diagonal or whatever, so unless they're right up against the bars, it's very hard for them to see each other. That said, when Danny and Jack were trying to get out, the blue flashes in Danny's cell were him changing from ghost to human (he was trying to find a place where he could get out in either his ghost or his human form). Finally, I know I'm driving you all insane with my constant hints of Danny Phantom being Danny Fenton and Jack and Maddie not figuring it out, and I know that this chapter was probably the worst. Well, BWA HA HA! You'll just have to see what happens. The reason why I even had Jack 'figure' it out when he heard Danny's voice is because I think he has a slightly more child-like mind than Maddie, whose logic makes her rule out all possibilities that don't seem logical. Jack, on the other hand, has a mind that allows for many, many possibilities to be . . . well, possible. And, for those who just don't think it's logical or that I'm not making any sense, think about this; if you were imprisoned in the ghost zone, would you concern yourself with the similarities one of the ghosts you come across only every so often and your son have? I wouldn't._

_Now to thank my reviewers!_

_LaBOBuren – Whew. Don't worry, I'm not mad, I was just worried that YOU had actually written that song, which seemed . . . odd. The clanging sound was Danny running into the bars, and yes, I prefer "don't cry because it happened, smile because it's over!" better._

_Kraven the Hunter – thank you for reviewing and putting my story on your fav list!_

_Also thanks to: hikarisailorcat, Anne Camp, bluish black dolphin, venusgal100, Sukira-chan, RoseGirl from planet Pluto, cakreut12, Master of Procrastination, KaliAnn, Neko-Salosa, Blue Autumn Sky, and to anyone else who reviewed and I may have missed (for which I am profoundly sorry)._


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Were I to own Danny Phantom, you'd know. There would be a lot more flamingos and eggbeaters involved.

**A Temporary Cease Fire**

**Chapter 8**

Jack, Maddie, and Danny looked in horror as they were met by some of their worst enemies, all together, obviously to fight the trio.

When Jack glanced at the other two to see their reaction, he was surprised to see Danny a little thrown off. Well, of course, they all were, but Danny seemed the most confused by the situation. Fortunately, Jack didn't have to be kept in the dark long, as Danny voiced his confusion rather . . . well, rashly.

"Skulker? Technus? Lunch Lady? I thought you guys were prisoners!"

"It is true that I, Technus, Master of Technology, had been captured by none other than-"

"Shut up!" came a chorus of both humans and ghosts alike to the long-winded specter.

"What this loser is trying to say is, it's true that we _had_ been captured, but we were all able to make an . . . agreement of sorts with Walker here. We make sure that you stay here, he lets us out." Skulker interjected.

"But you're still in your prison garb! I just barely let you out! How could you . . ." the young ghost teen cried, still confused.

Skulker chuckled that deep, throaty chuckle of his. "You thought that just because you let us out we would be willing to team up with you again?"

Walker spoke up, now, though Skulker had the explanation entirely under control. He couldn't help it; when he got the chance to rub it in, he took it. "It's all a matter of first come, first serve. True, you let all the prisoners out, but really, did you really expect a bunch of _criminals_ to automatically take their fellow law-breaker's side? These ghosts will do anything in their favor, whether it's the right thing to do or not, and in this case, I hold all the cards."

Skulker continued on. "He offered us our unconditional freedom and a handsome reward if we caught you, and considering you literally ran into us, it's an easy way out of this rat-hole. So, now that we've had our little tea party, are you going to come with us, or shall we have to take you by force?" As he said that last part, a fancy-looking gun popped up from a compartment in his arm, which he aimed right at Danny, Jack, and Maddie.

Danny looked at his adult companions, then back at the menacing-looking group of ghosts in front of him. Jack could have sworn that he wasn't actually looking _at_ the group of ghosts, though, but rather something _beyond_ them. The orange-clad ghost hunter blinked, though, and Danny was back to looking straight at the ghosts, smirking.

Gently, yet in a taunting sort of way, he replied, "Skulker, Walker, Technus, and other fellow ghosts. I cannot believe that through all this time that we've shared together, through all the bonding we've had, you still question the status of our relationship. Of _course_ I'm going to fight!"

The ghosts that were blocking the way of our protagonists stood there in a bit of shock, thrown off by the tone of voice that Danny had said all this in. This seemed exactly what Danny wanted, as he immediately threw off several blasts of ectoplamic energy against them. Jack and Maddie, who were also a little thrown off by what Danny had just said, recovered quickly and jumped in to help the now black-and-white blur.

Eventually, the idiot ghosts shook themselves out of the shock, and began defending themselves against the two humans and ghost.

The odds were two to one, though the trio had an advantage that the criminals did not; they were able to work together as a team, while their opponents attempted to win by sheer, individual force. This seemed to be working for a while, and due to the authoress stinking at writing action scenes, none of what happened will be posted here. You just have to trust her when she says that it was very exciting.

Just when it seemed like there was a chance of them getting away, fifteen or so guards cam in and surrounded the ghost butt-kicking three. This momentary distraction enabled their foes to regain their footing, and soon it was apparent that there just might not be a way out after all.

Walker was enraged at the fact that he was almost beat yet again. He slowly stomped up closer to the good guys with each phrase he said. "You . . . all of you. This is the last straw. Ghost hunters, your sentence just gained another thousand years. Ghost boy, as long as I'm here, you're never leaving. All three of you, I am going to make sure that you never see the light of day AGAIN."

Jack and Maddie were still on an adrenaline high, so the situation didn't scare them as much as it normally would have, but looking at Danny Phantom, they were surprised to see that he didn't seem to care at all. In fact, he had an almost bored look on his face. "Never see the light of day again?" He shrugged extremely comically. "That's okay with me."

As if on cue (maybe it was), everything started to go dark. Not as if all the lights went out, but as if a shadow was spreading across the hallway, causing everything to go pitch black.

Jack and Maddie were disoriented, though from all of the grunts and smacks of bodies that were heard echoing throughout the hall, it sounded like they weren't the only ones.

"We have to move, _now_. Once Shadow gets going, it won't stop, no matter who its victim is." The voice of Danny Phantom whispered into their ears. They felt a hand on their shoulders which turned them in a different direction, and which firmly and urgently led them down the hallway, somehow avoiding all the ghosts.

Once they got to a spot that wasn't so unnaturally dark, Jack and Maddie pulled their goggles on, which had night vision. They looked at Danny, confused. "What was that?" Jack asked.

"That was Johnny 13's ghost." the adolescent specter replied, landing softly on the ground in front of the married couple and leading the way to the Specter Speeder.

"I don't like this already" Maddie muttered, still having slight doubts about the relationship Danny had with Johnny 13.

Danny ignored this, even though he clearly heard the lady in the jumpsuit, and went on. "I got him out of the Ghost Zone AND back with Kitty, so that was two things he owed me. I signaled him while you guys were sneaking out of the cell– fortunately he likes taking shortcuts to different parts of the world through the ghost zone and was passing through – just in case we needed his help, and he came through. I'm gonna make sure that he can't get back into the human world after this, though. It's annoying constantly making sure he doesn't make too much trouble." He stopped at a door and smiled. "This is it! We're one door away from getting out of this iron box!" He opened it up and held it open for the elder two . . .

And in the room was none other than Johnny 13, standing right between them and their vehicle.

Jack growled and Maddie got in a defensive position. They didn't care how trustworthy Danny made him out to be, he was still gray, and . . . well, gray people are hard to trust!

Danny took charge yet again, floating up in front of the discolored adolescent, and narrowed his eyes, clearly not happy. "What do you want, Johnny, a thank-you card?"

"Ha ha, very funny, _punk_. You're a real fountain of hilarity, you know? No, if you want to get out of this place, you have to do something for me."

"WHAT!" Danny cried, both confused and upset at the same time. "But we're practically even! In fact, _you_ owe_ me _a favor!"

"So? I'll owe you another one. Listen, you have to do this for me, otherwise I'll call Shadow back and you can stay here forever."

Jack and Maddie could see Danny trying to quickly make the decision. It was clear that this wasn't easy for him . . . wait . . . why was he bargaining with _their_ Speeder? Why were Johnny and he treating it as if it were something valuable to Danny? This didn't seem right. "Hold on a second here," Maddie interrupted. "It's our invention, we should be the ones bargaining here, and I can tell you, _mister_, that we are NOT going to do something for a ghost. Quite frankly, I've had enough of them for one day, so goodbye." She started walking up to their means of freedom, but Danny put a shield up to stop. He was looking at Johnny, who had his fingers up to his mouth, ready to call Shadow up.

"Please Mo . . . Maddie. Shadow is very dangerous, and right now we can't have anything stopping us from getting out. What is it you want, Johnny?"

Johnny smirked, loving the control he had over the situation. "Through all the chaos of finding you and trying to set up for a distraction, Kitty got lost in the prison, and there's no doubt that she's locked up somewhere. Once you help me get her out, you're good to go."

Danny smacked his forehead. "You brought her with you? That's idiotic!"

Johnny frowned. "Hey, what can I say, we can't stay away from each other. Now make your choice. If she's not coming with us, then you're staying. Choose."

Maddie was upset that she had no control over the situation, but Jack was still pumped from the last fight against ghosts. "Do we have our weapons?" Johnny pointed to a corner of the room where all of the Fenton's weapons had been stored.

Jack grinned and walked over to Maddie, and put an arm around her shoulders lovingly. "What do you say, Maddie, dear? One last adventure for today?" She looked up at him, about to say no, but he had put on his pleading puppy face. She smiled warmly, reenergized by her husband, leaned up to his face and whispered in his ear, "Let's go kick some ghost behind."

He took her up in a tight bear hug and shouted, "Great! That's the Maddie I know and love!" With that, he put her down and ran over to the pile, reuniting himself with the machines he had worked so hard on.

* * *

The plan was simple; run.

Okay, so there was more to it, but not much.

The prison was still in a state of chaos, even though the guards were pushing themselves to the limit to calm things down. (It was known to a certain four beings, though, that a certain shadow-like ghost was perpetuating the confusion, for which they were grateful for).

Since sneaking around was really out of the question, all the four were worrying about was being too conspicuous. Therefore, Jack and Danny decided to take the Speeder outside and underneath the prison, driving around until they got a signal from Maddie or Johnny, who were racing around the prison looking for Kitty.

Maddie didn't like being pared up with the ghost, but Johnny didn't trust her with her husband in the Specter Speeder, afraid that they'd take off without the three ghosts. Jack did, however, allow himself to part with most of his inventions so she was well armed, so she felt confident that she was safe. Plus, she was able to take out some of her leftover frustration from the day on any ghost that was in her way, so after a few minutes, her situation didn't seem so bad.

Danny and Jack, on the other hand, were living it up. It turned out that as long as a ghost was inside the Speeder, it, too, could phase through the walls like a regular human, so Danny and Jack took the chance as soon as possible to patrol outside the prison. Fortunately, all of the ghosts that escaped out of the prison didn't think to immediately hide underneath the structure, so they were the only things down there. Even though Jack was disappointed that he didn't have any ghosts to beat up on, passing the time with Danny by playing with the cup holder quickly distracted him.

Finally, after about fifteen minutes, a red light flashed on the dashboard. "There's the signal – let's go!" Jumped Jack, flooring the pedal to go.

They flew across the bottom of the prison, following the signal until they ended up right beneath it, then made a ninety-degree angle and flew straight up through each of the floors.

They almost passed the room that they had to stop in, because it was so chaotic and they were sure that Kitty was already in a cell. They floated down, almost level with the floor, and looked at the scene quickly. It was Maddie, Kitty, Johnny, and Shadow against what seemed like the entire guard force of the prison. They were holding their own, but it was taking a lot out of them.

"Get in, hurry!" Shouted Jack, scooting over so that Maddie could hop in and drive out of there.

It was a tight squeeze, but they all fit in the floating vehicle, and Maddie floored it. Right before they phased through the wall, though, they heard a shout from a familiar voice. "Follow them!" Three guesses who it was.

Even though they should have been able to outrun anyone, somehow as soon as they flew out of the final wall, the guards and Walker immediately followed them. Maddie looked at the rearview mirror – with difficulty, mind you, because of the crowding – and made a decision that surprised everyone, especially herself. "Johnny, Kitty, leave. They're not after you, and now that you're out, you should go. Besides, it'll make it easier for us. GO!"

Johnny and Kitty blinked a couple times, then shrugged. Somehow Johnny's bike flew up alongside the Speeder, and he and his girlfriend jumped on. He started revving up to go in a different direction, when Danny stopped him again. "Wait! One more thing!" He shouted over the roar the speeds they were going at.

"This better be quick, kid, because it's hard to keep even with you guys at this rate."

"Oh, It will be." And with that, Danny Phantom shot a quick beam of energy at a little box on the handlebars of Johnny's bike, which then exploded.

Johnny looked at Danny, angry, and started fuming. "Why . . . I thought . . . once I . . ."

Danny just grinned and said simply, "You'd better get going now. You don't want to be thrown in prison, trust me."

Johnny growled and turned off, away from the chase scene.

"What was that about?" Questioned Maddie, confused at what just took place between the two ghosts.

"Oh, just making sure that Johnny stays where he belongs. I destroyed yet another portable ghost portal ray that he stole, _again_." Danny chuckled.

"Oh. Well, I wonder- hey! That was mine, wasn't it?" cried Jack, realizing what may have happened to his first invention of a similar function.

Danny ignored him and jerked his head in the direction of their pursuers. "I think we have a bigger problem to worry about right now. How are we going to throw these guys off?"

Maddie spoke up again, replying, "Simple. We'll lead them into a trap. You wouldn't happen to know of a certain, booby-trapped castle in this area, would you?"

Danny looked at their current surroundings, and grinned. He responded with two simple words. "Fright Night."

* * *

As they neared the Fright Night's castle, another plan was formed and put into action. Within a hundred meters of the castle, Danny flew out of the Speeder and held onto the back, to make faces and instigate the following ghosts to go into the castle with them. Maddie had feeling that it was for something else too, and that the blue, briefly flashing light that she saw YET AGAIN had something to do with it, but since Danny Phantom was literally right on the back of the Speeder, she couldn't see him out of the rearview mirrors.

They zoomed through the main hallway of the castle, and just as the trio hoped would happen, the walls started to move in. And, to make a long and rather boring, and probably detailed story short, the ghosts that were pursuing them were trapped between the walls, and the passengers of the Specter Speeder were able to safely phase out.

Yes, the two adults were worried about their ghost companion, but when he made himself visible between the two, safely in the middle passenger seat, they calmed down.

"Let's go home." Danny Phantom said, slumping down, happy that this was all over.

* * *

Jack and Maddie faced Danny Phantom back in the lab, unsure what to say.

"Well . . ." Jack began, breaking the silence. "That was interesting. I didn't know that the Ghost Zone was so . . . different." The three glanced briefly again at the controls to the portal, which were smashed in and broken. Jack had punched them as soon as they came through to the human realm, taking his turn at venting out the frustration he felt during their adventure.

Danny scratched the back of his head. "So . . . you guys aren't still mad at me, are you?"

Jack and Maddie looked at each other, making a silent agreement. Maddie looked back at Danny, smiled, and said, "Mad about what?"

Danny understood what the message was – all was forgiven. He grinned and took a step backwards. "I guess I'll be seeing you around." He started floating up to phase through the ceiling, stopped about halfway, and looked back at the couple. "Thank you. Thank you for everything." With that, he zoomed straight up, leaving the ghost hunters not entirely sure of what he meant, but appreciating his thanks anyway.

They turned around to go up the stairs and **_EAT_** (oh glorious food!), when Jack stopped and put a concerned look on his face. Maddie stopped when she noticed this, and asked what was wrong. He looked at her and bit his lower lip in slight frustration.

"That kid still has my thermos!"

The End

**Really; that's it. It's over.**

_Thanks to all my reviewers from the last chapter:_

_bluish black dolphin and Master of Procrastination – holy cow! What do you guys do, wait around for the instant that my fic is updated? Like, ten minutes after I posted my chapter last week, I checked my email and found a review alert from you two! Man, you're freakin' awesome!_

_LaBOBuren – Aaw, you'd be mad at me? Well, considering that this isn't even the end of June yet, I hope I avoided that completely :) ._

_cakreut12 – Are you really still in school? Or have you gotten out since I last updated? Oh, please tell me you did, I couldn't imagine you going through too much more suffering._

_Blue Autumn Sky – I did overdo the similarities last chapter, didn't I? I hope I didn't go overboard this chapter. And as for the wedding ring bit – I don't think I consciously was thinking of that when I wrote that bit; I thought it was a rather cliché thing, but who knows, maybe I did have it subconsciously on my mind._

_Anne Camp aka Obi-Quiet – Do you really think that it's like watching an episode? Wow. That has to be the greatest compliment I've ever gotten. Thank you so much for reviewing throughout my fic._

_KaliAnn – You know, that's exactly what I was thinking when I was writing for the character of Maddie in this fic._

_hikarisailorcat – On my last vacation I went to Utah for my cousin's wedding, and I did have fun, thank you. I love that place so much. _

_Catnip070 – Yippee! As in, "yay this was fun" or as in "Justina Bubbles you are so awesome for writing this great fic"? I hope it's the latter. _

_Kraven the Hunter –Hey! You were right! Jailhouse Rock! Boo yeah! The jailbreak in Prisoners of Love is probably my favorite scene in the Danny Phantom series. Oh yeah. Jailhouse rock._

_RoseGirl from planet Pluto – Yeah, I don't get much human interaction beyond my computer, either. And I have a voice in my head, too! Actually, he's more like my voice of reason, and **man** is he annoying. Yes, I would love to join MOTES. Squirrels once took over my sibling's brains. REVENGE!_

_ChicaDeDanny – My fic isn't too long, is it? I hate the ones that drag our forever and ever, so I'm trying to avoid that. And I agree with you, getting Danny back in the story was a good thing, because even though it was fun coming up with how Jack and Maddie would react to some of the same ghosts that Danny's come against and I had a BLAST doing it, Danny's character is much easier to come up with lines for. _

_BekukiChan – I'm glad that the characters don't seem out of character. I try really hard to come up with their reactions to certain situations. And thank you for the cupcake! Smears the frosting all over her face_

_fubukis-wraph – You know what? I think I liked chapter seven a lot, too. At first it drove me insane, but thinking back on it, I really do love it. And I'm sorry that you didn't get to see Danny slip up. I imagine him as trying to protect his identity at all costs, especially from his parents. _

_moonlighting3 – Yep, Walker it is, and yep, you got more!_

_Renoirkmk – Thanks! I try my best with writing. And I'm sorry that you didn't get to see Danny slip up – I know a lot of people were expecting that._

_Winkaku – I'm glad you like the viewpoints! I tried to keep it third person limited to Jack and Maddie, but I know I slipped up a couple times. I'm glad that you wanted to keep reading!_

_You guys were all expecting Danny to reveal his secret to his parents, weren't you? I'd laugh evilly here and tell you that the fic wouldn't be interesting if it was too predictable, but I'm so sad that this is over that I don't have the heart to do so. Well, I still think that my fic wouldn't have been interesting to the end otherwise, but still . . . sniffles, sniffles; sheds a tear. _

_Thanks to everyone who ever reviewed, and I hope to hear from you guys one last time. You know what to do. Press that little button. _


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